Wrapping-machine.



H. Y. ARMSTRONG.

WRAPPING MACHINE.

APPLlcAxoN FILED sEPLzz, |915.

, Patented Jan. 28, 1919.

H. Y., ARMSTRDNG.

` WRAPPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION man sEPT.27.1915.

1,292,674. v Patented Jan. 28, 11119.

. 3 SHEETSMSHEET 2.

Y H. Y. ARMSRONG.

WRAPPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED sEPT.27,1915.

Patented Jan.28,19i9.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- UNlTED STATES PATEN T QFFICE.

HARRY Y. ARMSTRONG, F SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO PACKAGE MACHINERY COMYANY, OIF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHSETTVS, A. CORPGRATIN 0F MASSAGHUSETTS.

lNtflPNG-MACHINE.

Patented Jan. 28, H59@ Application lcd eptember 27', 1915. Serial No. 52,8%.

To all icwm/ 25 may concern Be itiknown that l, Hanni Y. ARMSTRONG, a citizen ci the United States, residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and 5 State of lilassachusetts, .have invented certain Improvements in YWrapping-lilachines, of which the following description, in con nection with the accompanying drawings, is ai specification, like reference characters on l0 the drawings indicating like parts' 1n the several iigures, y This invent-ion relates to wrapping niachines and has among its objects to devise a wrapping mechanism which will wrap satl isfactorily, and without any manual change l in adjustment, articles varying substantially i'n dimensions; to providemeans for treating the articles prior to their introduction to the wrapping mechanism in a manner clesigned to facilitate the wrapping operation; and to devise mechanism which will apply glue er other adhesive material neatly tcthe desired parts of the \vrapper.

ln the accompanying drawings, Figure l. is a view partly in side elevation and partly in section, of the more important .parts of a wrapping machine embodying this invention;

T. 2 2, Fig. l;

p k v .1c l* lgs. and l are perspective views of di.-- ferent parts of the wrapping mechanism;

Fig 5 is a perspective view of a gluing device;

Fig. 6 is a plan view showing the tumblel box constituting' part of the'wrapping niech.

anisin; v

Figs. 7, 8 and 9 are perspective views and gluing operations Fig. l0 is a cross sectional view' on the line 10e-l0, Fig. d; and

Fig.v 1l is an elevation of the 'side ofthe y machine opposite to that shown in Fig. l,

certain parts of the frame being hroken'out In the present instance two,.\ lumps or blocks of sugar are wrapped in .a sing-le pachage'so thatthe package may loe-opened 41g. 2 a cross sectional view on the line showing successive steps in the wrapping` large i'iat slabs of sugar as they come from.

.the moldsl t0 provide long strips or sticks rectangular in cross section; and these sticks are thenl split into blocks of the so-called domino shape. The top and bottom faces of each lump thus are formed in the splitting operation while the end faces are formed by sawing and the sides by molding. By splitting the sticks in this manner the crystal edect is obtained which would be lost if lthe sticks were sawed; but the plane of cleavage is so irregular that the blocks vary greatly in thickness. There is also a great variation in the widths and lengths .of dif ferent lumps so that provision must he made in the wrapping machine fortakin'g care of this extraordinary variation in all three dimensions ci' the lumps. 7 5 The Wrapping mechanism comprises a tumble box 2 and a Wrapping chute 4 which is in line with the pocket of the tumblehox whenthe latter is in its stationary position. The lumps of sugar are brought tolthe wrapping mechanism `on a conveyer belt 6 which is supported by` two pulleys, one of which, the driven pulley, is indicated at 8.

A stationary stop 'plate 9 lying at right angles to and overhangin the conveyei; belt 6 arrests the movement o? the line of blocks of sugar as they are advanced toward the machine.. The two lumps at the'end ofthis line, that the one abutting against the stop 9 and the one next to it, are forced si- 90 -multanecusly into the wrapping mechanism by areciprocating feeder or plunger l0 which' slides hack and fort-h*v in a horizontal pla-ne just above the belt"6.

f As the feederl() advances the two lumps into the wrapping mechanism, it :pushes them through a y sizing appara-tus which serves toscrape' oil or remove enough sugar trom the upper sides-of the two lumps to' reduce them at least to a certain maximum 109 thickness. yThis sizing apparatus com-prises a horizontal grid orgratinglQ made up of severa1l .-parallel plates or bars supported side hy side but spaced fromeach other, as heet shown Figs. l and 2, the top of this grid M5 being substantially level with thepocket ,in the tumfhlelbox and with the uppensurface of the conveyerbelt 6. Small brackets sup? ported by the machine frame and slotted to receive the plat-es l2 support them in their proper positions. immediately above this grid is a file l-l secured -by means of a thumb screw l5 in a suitable socket formed in a plate i6 which overlies the feeder 10 and forms the top of the guideway through which the sugar is forced. As shown in Fig. 1 the teeth of this file are raked backwardly resembling somewhat the teeth of a rip saw, and the plane of the points of the teeth is inclined backwardly so that the distance fromr the upper surface of the grid to the back 'teeth of the le is less than the distance between the front teeth and the grid. Consequently, as the sugar is forced by the feeder l0 through the sizing device, the teeth of the file will progressively remove material from the upper faces of the lumps, provided of course they have parts which are greater in thickness than the minimum distance between the grid l2 and tile 14. A. side plate 17, parallel to the plate 9, coperl ates with the latter plate to guide the lumps of sugar laterally and these two plates have attached to their forward ends spring plates 1.8 which serve not only as lateral guides for the sugar after it has passed Ibeyond the ends of the plates 9 and 17 but also operate to l@enter the pair of lumps in the guideway. Usually a rough sorting of the lumps of sugar is made before they are placed on the belt 6 so that lumps which are greatly oversize will not be delivered to the machine. This sizing device serves the very important function in this machine of reducing the thickness of oversize articles to be wrapped to dimensions enabling the machine to handie them satisfactorily. These articles otherwise would become jammed in the machine and interrupt its operation so frequently as to greatly reduce its efficiency.

A paper feeding mechanism, which may be of any convenient character, but in the machine shown is substantially like that shown in Patent No. 1,061,525# granted May 13, 1913, is employed to deliver wrappers of the required size one at a time across the path which the sugar takes as it emerges from thcsizing device. A wrapper properly deliverevdfor the wrapping operation is indicated at W in Fig. l. This wrapper stands just in front of the sizing device so thatcthe plunger l0, as it forces a pair of lumps of sugar through the sizing device and into the tumble `box 2, causesl them to pick up the wrapper and carry it into the pocket of the tumble box, thus foldingY it about three sides ot' the pair of lumps.

This tumble box is of novel construction and comprises a head having a slot formed horizontally through it of a depth substantially equal to the minimum distance between the PUrid 12 and lile 14. this head being mounted on a shaft which is given an intermittent rotatable movement of 180 degreess A sliding )block 20 is mounted in the slot 1n the tumble box and carries a screw 21 slidable in a slot 22 in one wall of the member 2 which serves to limit the extent of the slidin movement of the block. This block fills suy stantially half the slot in the tumble box; that is, the block and a package of average size just fill the slot. The block thus forms the bottom of a pocket of suitable dimensions to receive a pair ofvlumps of sugar with a wrapper partially folded about them. The ends of this pocket are formed by two plates 23 and 24, respectively, which are mounted in said slot at opposite ends of the block 20. These plates carry pivot pins 25 and 26, respeetively, which project through slots formed in the walls of the rotatable head in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation of the tumble 'box and two springs 29 mounted, respectively, on opposite sides of the tumble box connect the pins 25 and 26 and tend to press them and consequently the plates 23 and 24 toward each other. The plates 23 and 2i thus are enabled to swing about .the pivots 25 and 26, which lie substantially at the base of the pocket in the tumble box,l and also to have a bodily movement toward and from each other.

`When the feeder 10 forces a pair of lumps of sugar through the sizing device and into the tumble b ox 2, they pick up their wrapper just as they4 enter the tumble box and their movement into the pocket of the tumble box folds the wrapper over their forward edge and the top and bottom faces, as shown in Fig. 7. The block20 at this time is forward or toward the plunger l() so that, as the article to be wrapped is moved into the tumble box, it forces the block 2O over into the position in which it is shown in Fig. t3 and at the same time spreads the forward ends of the plates 23 and 24 apart to an extent dependingl upon the length of the article. These plates' 23 and 24 make the first end tucks Z) (see Figs. 7 and 8) at the forward edges of the cnd'faces of the package. The tumble box is next revolved a half revolution in a clockwise. direction. (as the parts are seen in Fig. l) thus bringing the partially wrapped package in line with the folding chute 4 and folding the trailing end of the wrapper 71j over the edge of the package which is now forward, and leaving the package in the condition in which it is shown in Fig. 8. When the feeder 10 forces the'next package into the tumble box the resultant movement of the block 2O will force the package already in the tumble box into the folding chute 4. tlust before the package is ejected from the tumble box a glue dauber applies spots of glue g, Fig. 8, to the package. This dauber comprises a head SO (see Figs. 1 and 5) mounted to reciprocate in vertical lll mages-a either one ofxtwo pairs of holes 34 formed in the opposite walls ot the pocket of the tumble box. This dauber normally rests in a glue. tank 36, the fingers 32 beingl submerged `in the glue or other adhesive, but is raised by suitable driving,` mechanism in time to cause the lingers 32 to enter the 'apertures 34 while the package is in the tumble box' and in the conditionshown in Figu il., These ngers apply thespots g of glue to the package just before another formed in lugs projec package is forcedinto the tumble box by the feeder 10. This moven'ientJ carries the package already in the. tumble bor; into the folding chute 4, thus folding the dependini?a ldap f, Fig. 8, over the bottom of the package and into contact with the glue spots g. In order to prevent the glue spots g from smearing on the Walls of the tumble box, as. the package is ejected therefrom, these i 'alle are giooved or cui; away in front of the apertures 34, as indicated at 35, Fig. 6.

The folding chute is of novel construction and comprises a bottom Aplate Ll-O sup4 ported on small brackets projecting from the machine frame and a top plate 4Q that is removably supported on the bottom plato Ll0 by means of dowel pins 43. A swinging` erin 4l, normally is clamped in the position shown in Fig. l in which it holds the plate l2 in its operative position, but may be loosened to allow the plate to be removed. The upper'plate l2 supports a pair of end tuclters 44 andA 45, respectively, mounted at opposite Sides of the package passage through the chute andl provided with oppo sitely bowed )ar Vthat are pivoterl to lugs on the plate so t at the tuckers can swing toward and from each other. The construetion ot these parts is clearly shown in Fig. 3. A coiled spring tiloosely encircles a rod 47 which Slides f eel'f` through holes fing *from the tucker arms above their pivots and this spring presses the tuckers yieldingly toward each other, the movement of these members under ythe influence of the spring `rl-t being limited however by heads on the opposite ends of the rod 47. These tuckers operate to make the tucks .chllig 9, at opposite ends of the package corresponding to the tucks 6 made by the plates 23 and 24.

Two lower and upper pairs of pointed flaps d and e, respectively, now remain pro- ,Yjecting from the opposite ends of the package, rl`he two lower flaps d are folded against the ends of the package (the folded position ot one of these flaps being shown in Fig. 9) lby means of lower folders 4S and 49, -respectively,which are constructed as shown' in Fi 4 and are carried by the lower plate 40. Tie folder 48 is-slidably mounted on a pair of rods 50 .that project horizontally from the plate #l0 and each o'l` these rods is encircled by a coiled spring; 5l which holds the folder 9 yieldinejlv against the plate l0 but permis it to be moved cull wardly by the package as the latter is foi-@eil through the folding' chute. The opposizifolder is supported in the saine manner and is backed up by springs corrcspmilinu to the springs 5l.

A pair of top folders 52 'and 53, respon! tively, (Fig. 3) are pivored 'to the upper plate All?. at 5l and 55. respectively, so that they can swing toward and 'from each other and are looselyc'onnected at their upper ends by a rod 5o which encircled by springn 57 that 'tends to force the two tolders 52 and 53 yielding'ly toward each other. this movement however being.;` limited b v heads on the opposite ends ol the rod 5G. These folders turn down the two upper pointed flaps e project-ing from the opposite ends olf the package and complete the Vfoldin operation. Y

t will be evident troni the foregoing,` de scription that each pair of tuclting or folding members carried by the plates l0 and 4.2 are mounted to have a considerable yielding inovementtoward and 'from each other so tiat these members can readily adjust themselves to packages varying substantially in dimensions. el ust after the lower flaps o have 'been folded against the ends of 'the package by the folders i8 and i9 and while the flaps e are projecting over 'the upper edges of the folders 48 and 49, the. glue dauber 30 is raised and applies spots of glue to each of the flaps e, as indicated at 7i in 9. This application oft glue is etici-teil by two glue applying fingers 60 formed 'for enough apart on the glue dauber head 30 to straddlenbhe folding chute, so that the)v are operative to apply glue to a package in the folding chute at the saine instant that the fingers place the spots of glue g on a package positioned in tee tuin-ble noti 2. ik pair 'ol rolls, one of which is indicated in Fig. 3 at 6:2, working in slots G3 in the plaie Ll2 and held downwardly by a lea-l" spring,

may be used if found necessary as friction means to prevent any iglispiacenient olf the package due, for instance, to momentum.

after the package has once been moved into -i-n place for the saine purpose, a presser I plate, not shown', being provided to maintain space between a pair of driven pressure on the packages while they are being advanced through this drying mechamsm.

The operating mechanism for the moving parts above described may be of any convenient character and any detailed description of it is believed to be unnecessary. In general it resembles very closely that shown in my co-pending applicationA Serial No. 656,504, filed October 24.-, 1911.l Briefly stated and referring to 11, this mechanism comprises a main shaft 68 which is driven from any convenient source of power,

and carries a crank that operates a slotted lever 70 which is fulcrumed at 71 and reciprocates the head :72 of the plunger 10. A chain 74, driven by a sprocket on the main shaft 68, operates the driver of a Geneva wheel 75 which has a geared connection with a shaft 7 6 on the end of which the tumble box 2 is mounted. This Geneva drive operbell crank lever 84 which. is fulcrumed in theimachine frame at 85 and has its other arm connected to a cam follower 86 that is operated by a cam fast on the main driving shaft 68. The sprockets which drive the chains 64 are operated by a spira-l gear connection with a shaft 88, (see Fig. 1) which is driven b y a sprocket and chain connection with a shaft 90 (see Fig. 11,) .the chain bein'g indicated at 91, and the latter shaft being driven by a sprocket and chain connection with the main shaft 68. The particular operating mechanism used for these parts is of course merely a matter of mechanical design and the above description is given simply for the purpose of making the disclosure more complete.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent'of the United States is:

1. In a machine for wrapping lumps sugar, the combination with wrapping mechanism, of means for feeding a predetermined number of lumps of sugar at a time to said wrapping mechanism, and sizing means cooperating with said feeding .means to reduce the size of oversized lumps prior to their presentation to said wrapping mechanism by said feeding means.

2. In a machine of the character described, the 1ombination with Wrapping -tive to pi'esent'articles to be wrapped one at a time to said wrapping mechanism and means for reducing the dimensions of oversized articles by removing material from them, said means being positioned in front of said wrapping mechanism and in the path of said articles as they are pushed into said wrapping mechanism by said feeder.

4. In a machine of the character described, the combination with wrapping .mechanisim of a reciprocating feeder operative to present articles tobe wrapped one a time to said wrapping mechanism and sizing mechanism for said articles through which the articles are pushed one at a time by said feeder, said sizing mechanism coin-- prising a grating over which the articles are moved and a file positioned above said grating and operative to remove surplus material from the articles.

In a wrapping machine, a tumble box, having a pocket constructed to receive an article with a wrapper partially folded about it, and two plates forming the opposite ends of the pocket and mounted to have a yielding bodily movement away from each v other and to swing toward and from each other about axes located substantially. at the opposite ends of the bottom of the pocket.

6. In a wra ping machine, a tumble boit, having a poc ret constructed to receive an article with a wrapper partially folded about it, and two plates forming the opposite sides of the pocket and mounted to have ayielding bodily movement away from each other and to swing about axes extending parallel to the depth of the pocket, whereby said plates maybe moved by a package as it is inserted in said pocket.

7. In a wrappingmachine, a tumbl'e box having a pocket constructed to receive an article with a wrapper partially folded about it, and two plates forming the opposite sides of said pocket, said plates being movable about independent pivots mounted to slide in the tumble box toward and .from each other, and springs acting on said pivots to hold them yieldingly toward each other.

8. In a wrappinginachine, a tumble boi-I,

iis'.

comprising a rotatable head having a slot formed therethrough, a block slidabiy mounted in said slot but filling only part of said slot whereby it forms the bottom of a pocket for an article having a wrapper parmomo@ Helly-folded about, 1t, and tivo pleit-es mounted in Seid slot et opposite entls oi sind block im@ between "which the block'-lsslidfes,k

e substantially central pivot earried euch of sind plates, saint pivots being @wanted other io will liezul und Springs acting on said pivots to bold said plates yieldingly toward euch otliei". 't

9, En :t wrapping ilmeliiiie. e folding chute comprising o bottom plate. e top plate ie movably supported on Suid bottom plate, 2L poil oi enel tuckers supported by one of said plates, o poil' of top folders supported by the top plate, a pair of bottom folders supported the bottom plete7 themeinbers of each of seid pairs being suppoted for yielding movement relative to each other, and means for holding said top plate in its normal position Constructed and arranged to be :t i' slialixp iiibtement toward ando' rom eech gers constructed enel zu'mngeil to apply glue to package in the tumble box and simultaneously to apply glue to aiiotliei package. in the folding eliute,end ineens for opereting said dauber.

In testimony Whei'eof i have signed my neme to this specieation in the two subscribing Witnesses.

HARRY Y. ARMeTRoNo.

Witnesses W. C. Roem' l. H. MoCitazio'iz.`

presence of 

